1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to noise barrier retaining walls used to retain earth, water, wind, noise and other materials, and which are able to sustain the pressures applied to a retaining surface thereof by such retained materials. More specifically, this invention relates to a building component used in the construction of a retaining wall, used as a noise barrier wherein the building component is configured to minimize labor during the construction of the noise barrier retaining wall.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Retaining walls are conventionally used for the purpose of retaining numerous materials, including earth, grain, water or wind. Further, retainer walls are used as noise barriers especially on highways directed through an urban area. To be able to withstand the high pressures generated by the materials being retained, a retaining wall must be constructed in a manner that promotes the strength of the wall, as well as the stability of the wall in order to prevent overturning and sliding. In addition, the base of the wall must be adequately sized so as to sufficiently distribute the weight of the retaining wall so as not to exceed the safe bearing strength of the underlying supporting soil. Safety dictates that, even if the retaining wall is used as a wind or noise barrier, all of these considerations be taken into account.
To facilitate their design and construction, retaining walls are typically formed by interconnecting a number of individual partitions made of concrete or wood, with concrete being the preferred material where permanence and high strength are required. Various anchoring techniques are typically required to firmly anchor each partition, so as to promote the strength and stability of a retaining wall, as well as to distribute the weight of the wall. Examples of retaining walls constructed of individual concrete partitions include U.S. Pat. No. 4,707,962 to Meheen and U.S. Des. Pat. No. 296,366 to Conti. Meheen discloses a rather complex structure which is constructed by interconnecting partitions having various geometries. The individual partitions are interconnected to form a retaining wall having an irregular facade. Some of the partitions are generally I-shaped, having enlarged ends with a passageway formed therein for receiving a rod which anchors and stabilizes the partition. As shown, the rods are each permanently embedded in footings to secure the partitions. As such, retaining walls constructed in accordance with Meheen generally require that the rods be accurately aligned and set in place prior to stacking the partitions in order to form the wall. Accordingly, the task of establishing the proper alignment and plumb of the rods is critical to the subsequent construction of the retaining wall.
The reliance on the accurate prepositioning of rods or pilings is apparent with other retaining wall structures of the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,933,483 to Pennoyer teaches a retaining wall whose individual concrete wall sections are positioned intermediate steel pilings. The ends of each wall section are formed with recesses shaped to closely receive a piling, with bonding material being used to fill the recesses so as to form a water-tight retaining wall. While the accuracy of the alignment and plumb of the pilings is not as critical as that for the retaining wall taught by Meheen, the pilings must nevertheless be sufficiently plumb so as to prevent the wall from leaning. In addition, substantial deviations from the vertical can significantly complicate construction of the wall.
Similar to that taught by Pennoyer, the retaining wall taught by U.S. Pat. No. 1,943,800 to Morrison relies on pilings which are received in recesses formed in the ends of each wall partition. Again, proper alignment and setting of the pilings prior to the construction of a wall is critical to the teachings of Morrison. Morrison teaches the use of an additional piling which is received in a large central opening in each partition. Due to the relative size of the large central opening, it is apparent that the location of the partitions relative to these additional pilings is not critical to the alignment of the retaining wall. However, as taught by Morrison, these pilings are not required for the structural anchoring of the retaining wall to the substratum.
From the above discussion, it can be readily appreciated that the prior art generally teaches a method of retaining wall construction in which the assembly and plumb of the wall is heavily dependent on accurately positioning and permanently setting posts or pilings prior to the construction of the wall. The posts or pilings serve to locate the individual wall partitions during the construction of the wall, and therefore significantly determine the structural integrity of the retaining wall. However, such an approach makes the operation of locating and setting the posts or pilings a critical task in the construction of a retaining wall, which complicates and increases the labor required for the construction of the wall.
Accordingly, what is needed is a retaining wall whose construction eliminates the operation of presetting the posts or pilings by which the noise barrier retaining wall is anchored, such that a significant reduction in the time, labor and costs required during the construction of the retaining wall can be achieved. Such a noise barrier retaining wall would require that the individual wall components be specifically tailored to assist in the self-alignment of the wall with respect to the substratum on which the wall is to be built, as well as assist in the proper alignment of the components relative to each other.